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South San Juan Mountains from Elwood Pass

Friday – Monday, July 28 – 31, 2023

After spending the last two days around the Animas River Valley between Coal Bank Pass and Durango, I decided to spend the next couple of days further south and east in a distant part of the San Juan Mountains that I don’t get around to visiting very often. I’ve definitely been long overdue for another visit to the South San Juan Mountains between Wolf Creek Pass and the New Mexico state line and figured that this would be a good opportunity to get back since it wasn’t too much further away. After the GIS Colorado Summer Meetup concluded late in the morning on Friday I packed up my Jeep and made my way over to Pagosa Springs to continue on with the next leg of the trip.

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Coal Bank Pass: Spud Lake Trail & Pass Trail

Coal Bank Pass: Spud Lake Trail & Pass Trail

Wednesday & Thursday, July 26-27, 2023

While spending the latter part of this week attending the annual GIS Colorado Summer Meetup at the Chris Park Campground near Durango, I was able to get out on a couple of short hikes near Coal Bank Pass since I was in the area. On Wednesday afternoon I left work, grabbed a quick dinner in Delta and then headed down through the San Juan Mountains to the campground via the San Juan Skyway. After crossing over Red Mountain Pass and getting stopped by construction for a little while, I continued over Molas Pass and Coal Bank Pass and then turned off onto the old Lime Creek Road so I could go on a short hike to Potato Lake via the Spud Lake Trail.

Elk Mountains: Capitol Creek Trail to Capitol Lake

Maroon Bells – Snowmass Wilderness | Saturday & Sunday, July 22-23, 2023

Almost nine years ago now, Diane was with me while I was photographing Fall Colors in the Elk Mountains near the Capitol Creek Trailhead, and while we were there she mentioned to me that she would like to backpack to Capitol Lake sometime, and I never forgot about it. However, we had never got around to doing that hike yet because it’s such a popular location and I’ve always been worried about hiking in and not finding a campsite near the lake on a weekend. But earlier this year when the White River National Forest finally implemented a permit system for the designated campsites around Capitol Lake, I hopped onto Recreation.gov the day they became available and booked a site for us on this weekend in late July. On Saturday morning we woke up extra early and made our way over to the Capitol Creek Trailhead to start our hike up to Capitol Lake.

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Mountains of Minerals: Rocky Gulch & Maggie Gulch

San Juan Triangle | Friday – Sunday, July 14-16, 2023

To escape the rising temperatures in the lower valleys this weekend, I decided to head up into the San Juan Mountains near Silverton so I could spend some time exploring and hiking in Rocky Gulch and Maggie Gulch which are both situated along the Continental Divide. I left from work on Friday afternoon and made my way south over Red Mountain Pass to Silverton and then headed up Cunningham Gulch and Rocky Gulch where I followed the steep Jeep road all the way up to over 13,000 feet. From the overlook at the end of the road I stopped to eat dinner and enjoyed the expansive alpine views.

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Woods Lake, Sunshine Mesa & Lizard Head Pass

Friday, July 7, 2023

Well, this weekend certainly did not go as I would have liked it to. I had planned to spend the entire weekend hiking new trails and summits in the Rico Mountains and Lizard Head Wilderness, like I’ve been doing for the past couple of years, but on Friday evening I started feeling pretty ill and ended up coming home very late that night and staying in for the rest of the weekend. I did make a couple short detours to hike and explore on my way to find a campsite Friday afternoon, so here are a couple of the photos I took along the way.

Tag: rocky mountains

South San Juan Mountains from Elwood Pass

Coal Bank Pass: Spud Lake Trail & Pass Trail

Elk Mountains: Capitol Creek Trail to Capitol Lake

Mountains of Minerals: Rocky Gulch & Maggie Gulch

Woods Lake, Sunshine Mesa & Lizard Head Pass